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With preferred starting center Elgton Jenkins now on the injured reserve, likely to have played his last game with the Green Bay Packers due to his 2026 cap hit, and his injury replacement, Sean Rhyan, on the final year of his rookie contract, many Packers fans are wondering who their center will be in 2026. If Rhyan isn’t extended, or the team doesn’t want to move forward with Jacob Monk — the only 53-man roster player who has experience at the position other than starting right tackle Zach Tom — then it will likely be a draft pick.
But what does the 2026 draft outlook look like at the center position? We’re gonna try to answer that question in this article.
Below is a table of all of the top-150 offensive line prospects in the 2026 draft, per the consensus draft board, and which positions they’ve actually played for their college programs this year. They’re tiered based on the Packers’ draft choices, which are set to be #56, #88 and #124 in the first four rounds, as it stands right now. I only used the top 150, because after that, the media’s ability to project the draft is pretty poor. Frequently, guys ranked in the 150s are available post-draft. For the most part, I think the top 150 is all that people outside of organizations actually making the picks should care about until selections are made in April.
Lew is right on the edge of being considered in the Packers’ range for their first pick of the 2026 draft. He does come with some baggage, though. Easily the top center in a weak center class, Lew tore his ACL back in October. He should be ready to go by the start of the regular season, but I’m not sure a team with urgency at the position, like the Packers, can turn in a second-round pick for a player who might not be able to even go through his rookie training camp.
Despite the season-ending injury, Lew has yet to officially declare for the NFL draft, unlike some injured players in the past. It’s also worth noting here that his head coach, Hugh Freeze, has already been fired in-season. Keep an eye on this situation, as it could go either way.
When I’ve talked to people in the scouting world about Jake Slaughter, the phrase that keeps coming back my way is “PFF darling.” That is their way of saying, nicely, that the metrics like him more than the scouts do. Some that I’ve talked to have him much lower, like a mid-Day 3 option or UDFA, than the online rankings. Last season, Slaughter was a first-team All-SEC player and a first-team All-American. The redshirt senior will turn 23 years old in less than a month.
Out of the top center prospects, I’ve...
